OLYMPICS 2012: THE VOTE; London Wins '12 Olympics; New York Falls

By LYNN ZINSER

Published: July 7, 2005

CORRECTION APPENDED

London won the 2012 Olympic Summer Games on Wednesday in a surprising upset over the front-running Paris after ardent last-minute lobbying by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The British capitalized on a desire to hold the Games in Western Europe and surpassed four finalists, including New York, which was knocked out in the second round of voting, earlier than most expected.

In the main presentation room, where London was announced the winner, the shrieks of supporters roared over the stunned gasps from the representatives of Paris, which had lost twice previously in the past 20 years.

The London bid was re-energized a year ago by Sebastian Coe, the British gold-medal-winning runner who took over its leadership. It steadily gained momentum in the days leading to the vote, blending the charisma of Mr. Blair and Lord Coe with an ambitious bid plan centered on developing East London, which the bid described as among the poorest areas of Britain.

London organizers arrived in Singapore with their bid still the expected runner-up to Paris, the longtime favorite. But while the Parisian organizers, including Mayor Bertrand Delano?could often be found during the past week in the hotel lobby bar, conferring among themselves instead of lobbying for their bid, Mr. Blair enthusiastically met with International Olympic Committee members until Tuesday, when he flew to Scotland to act as the host for the Group of 8 Summit.

When President Jacques Chirac of France was quoted earlier in the week insulting British food, Mr. Blair remained the statesman, refusing to be drawn into a spat.

Day by day, the London bid appeared to gain momentum, members said, and Wednesday, the city defeated its longtime European rival, 54 to 50, on the final ballot to bring the Olympics back to Britain for the first time since 1948.

''If it hadn't been for him,'' Dick Pound, an I.O.C. member from Canada, said of Mr. Blair, ''we'd be holding a press conference in French.''

Madrid and Moscow were also eliminated during earlier rounds of voting. All the rounds were conducted by secret ballot with the recipient of the fewest votes eliminated after each round if no city received a majority of the votes.

The selection of London ended the most fiercely contested -- and expensive -- bidding competition for an Olympics since the advent of the modern Games in 1896. The five finalists spent an estimated $150 million combined on their campaigns, with New York spending $35 million and Paris $32 million.

The New York bid had hoped to survive at least two rounds but instead lost three votes from the first round to the second, when it was unceremoniously eliminated.

New York's bid leaders had an understanding they would have Moscow's support after it dropped out. Instead, Moscow's voters migrated to Madrid, perhaps an allegiance to the former I.O.C. president Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain, who retains considerable influence on members from the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe.

Madrid led Paris and London in the second round, despite a shaky presentation and other significant issues; the first question after its presentation came from Prince Albert II of Monaco and highlighted its recurring terrorist bombings. But voters seemed to reconsider their choices, and London moved ahead in the third round.

''I think the others just had bigger blocs of votes that they had lined up and really worked on,'' said Jim Easton, one of the United States' three I.O.C. members. ''Those blocs didn't break down much until Madrid went out.''

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who campaigned as actively as Mr. Blair, repeatedly made the point during the last days here that 2012 was the right time for New York to hold the games.

But timing turned out to be precisely what hurt New York.

''I think that the United States has had a lot of the Games,'' said Mr. Pound, noting the Olympics held in Atlanta in 1996 and Salt Lake City in 2002. ''The whole overall game plan for 2012 was to have one in Western Europe.''

That was a theme echoed by many I.O.C. members. Others suggested that a few votes were lost because of the unpopularity of the United States foreign policy, including the war in Iraq.

Many praised the leadership of Mr. Bloomberg and the bid founder, Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor, though some agreed that Lord Coe had emerged through the last year's campaign as the most popular bid leader of the five.

On Tuesday, New York made its final presentation. It was described as surprisingly emotional and personal and was almost universally lauded.

After the vote, Mr. Doctoroff, concluding his first and possibly last foray into the opaque Olympic bidding process, admitted, ''I don't really know what happened.''

But no one was more surprised by the outcome than leaders of the bid from Paris.

Its third bid in 20 years had fallen short despite having been carefully tailored to the I.O.C.'s preferences. It was compact in scope, included a modest amount of new facilities and centered on a world-class stadium, Stade de France. But Paris had approached this contest by playing defense on the image of the front-runner.

Correction: July 15, 2005, Friday
A front-page picture caption on July 7 with an article about London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games referred incorrectly to the people shown learning the results in New York. They were staff members of NYC2012, the New York City bid organization, not volunteers.